


but a journey at heart

by sorrow_key



Category: Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Canon Divergence in merguise, Canon-Typical Character Death, Canon-Typical Memory Alteration, F/F, Fairytale Elements - Freeform, Gen, Graphic depictions of violence - Freeform, M/M, Multi, NSFN in an AU kind of way, Pirates, Quests, Sakura has two hands, Selfdestructive Behaviour, Somewhat Graphic Descriptions of Walking Corpses, Suicidal Ideation, curses are fun! said no one ever, eating human organs - freeform, names are important, somewhat open-ended, what's a little attempted murder between future friends (and more), when in doubt throw in a paradoxon it’s the clamp way
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-09-25 10:42:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20375437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sorrow_key/pseuds/sorrow_key
Summary: "You aren’t actually scary at all, Kuro-sama,” says Fluorite off-handedly between drinks, with the white bird-thing snoring loudly already, “even though you tried to kill me.”Sitting on the railing, tail dangling into the water in a way that would’ve drowned their previous vessel, Kurogane snorts. "You're not so scary yourself, pirate.""But I am," Fluorite says. From anyone else, the words would be arrogant. From him, they're almost resigned. "Kuro-sama's just fearless like that."(Or; in which a mer ends up helping the arguably strangest pirate and his not-bird on their search, and everything else goes from there.)





	but a journey at heart

**Author's Note:**

> Kurogane's mer form in here is based off the white shark and Tomoyo's off the angel shark. I'm envisioning a tiger shark for Sohma, ,,,an accidental theme happened there

Dark waters part and bubble violently as his tail swishes back and forth, his restlessness too deep for the sea to hold. He keeps swimming, teeth bared and eyes glaring red.** **  
** **

He keeps searching, just below the surface, dipping up every now and then, for a familiar sound, scent, voice. His whole body primed for it, coiled so tightly he could just tear someone apart. ** **  
** **

He didn’t ask for this; never invited this feeling in. And yet, it’s made itself at home until his heart’s no longer content to beat by itself. This is not what he’d wanted and yet, this is what he chooses, again and again.** **  
** **

So Kurogane swims, and he searches, wrecking his brains for a plan, for someone that cannot be found. ** **  
** **

Still, Kurogane will find him - because anyone who's alive can be found. ** **  
** **

And Yuui has to be alive. 

** **

*

** **

Sonorous. Calling, beckoning. It can barely even be called a sound, this travelling vibration of a feeling.** **  
** **

It gets under Kurogane’s scales and _ scrapes _ , an insidious parasite of the sort that leaves their hosts rotten and decayed. His body contorts mid-swim, upper body pressing in on itself, his tail angled. ** **  
** **

_ Come. Follow. _ ** **  
** **

Kurogane doesn’t like to be ordered around like this; and this kind of magic ranks among what he hates the most. ** **  
** **

Twisting the emotions of others like the feeling is their own and using it to prey on them. To do so when it's not even needed for your own survival… ** **  
** **

For that offense, even death is a mercy. ** **  
** **

Straightening out again, Kurogane heads towards its source with purpose. ** **  
** **

He'll consider getting rid of this one a public service. 

** **

*

"You're addicted to work, Kurogane," his princess tells him. Once, thrice, too many times to count, even if he cared to. The same spiel in ever-changing packaging. ** **  
** **

"How's that even a problem? You should be glad," he smirks, faux smug in a way that makes for familiar irritation, "that your subjects are so loyal."** **  
** **

"Well, some of my subjects also need a hobby!" She retorts instead, too kindly for her mocking words.** **  
** **

Kurogane falls silent at that; the combination proving too much even for him. Tomoyo wins this one, but looking at her expression, that's always been all too sad for him, he can't begrudge her it. 

** **

*** **  
** **

Joke's on his princess; there's nothing he'd rather do on his day off than tear apart someone who deserves it. 

** **

*** **  
** **

Lurk beneath the surface. Watch, and wait. Even when you are strong, it pays to be smart. Know where your target is - know where to attack. Do it quickly; before they know anything's amiss. An opponent who falls to this isn't worthy of being one at all. ** **  
** **

This is how you hunt. 

** **

*** **  
** **

A shadow on water, lone upon jagged rocks. Another beneath, invisible. ** **  
** **

Then, Kurogane rips through the surface, posed to attack in his entirety; all claws and teeth, his leap of a force that sinks ships. ** **  
** **

He doesn't plan on killing this person that fast, but humans, he's heard, are made of sterner stuff than they look and those with magic especially. He's felt its hum even underwater. ** **  
** **

For a mere moment, his eyes lock with one of blue, staring at him in too mild a surprise. Locks of blond, long clothes of blue. And around his neck, a round whistle. ** **  
** **

At once, Kurogane reaches him and- ** **  
** **

With supernatural reflexes, the human jumps back, stumbling against the rocks. But Kurogane’s falling back too. Working with gravity, he turns in mid-air to dive in head-first, his tail hitting the water hard for good measure, sure to create a splash that’ll reach the human. At least it’ll make his attack doubly unpleasant.** **  
** **

The thrill of the hunt builds up in him and Kurogane grins into the water toothily. A fight half on land, with a mage of large, unknown powers and reflexes almost to match his? Now this will prove a challenge.

** **

*** **  
** **

It’s not that Kurogane hates humans. Some do, he knows - bad experiences, bad history, bad blood. Life flows slower under the sea than above, Tomoyo once tells him, so it makes sense that memories settle deep in their flesh. It spreads easily, in caution and suspicion and to a particular few, justification to prey on them freely.** **  
** **

It’s not that he likes them either, the way Tomoyo does, all excitement for their strange fashions, stranger customs and the things they manage to do in their short lives. Though it does make him consider them differently, for the hurt their harm can cause her. ** **  
** **

Kurogane himself just doesn’t particularly care. They don’t have anything to do with him and that’s that. ** **  
** **

(His history is of a different kind.)

** **

*** **  
** **

That doesn’t mean, however, that this makes any difference to humans setting out to harm mer - if so, they are simply enemies.** **  
** **

*

** **

So again Kurogane shoots out and again he attacks. The decisive factor will be getting the human in the water. Prepared to be evaded this time, he uses his momentum to shift and strike a second time with his tail. It puts him in a vulnerable position as well, but no risk, no reward. Though rewards are no use to dumbasses who actually get themselves killed, so he’s prepared to defend and activate the pocket spell for armour all guards possess. ** **  
** **

But as he’s prepared, so has the mage - he’s back on his feet if sopping wet. Kurogane grins victoriously. His dodging proves more calculated this time, but Kurogane’s follow up attack forces him to defend. A golden staff he’s summoned into his hands keeps it from reaching. Even with enchantments, the human is strong to hold his own against the strike. Kurogane's strength is nothing to sneeze at, even for a mer. ** **  
** **

Choosing not to risk getting stuck on land instead, Kurogane uses the staff as a springboard to make for a faster retreat. Caving under the pressure, it slips from the mage’s hands and follows Kurogane into the waters. ** **  
** **

Noticing its golden blur, Kurogane grins as he dives back. It may not be the whistle, but he got something out of the mage at least. But something bothers him despite the victory; if the mage’s this good, why doesn’t he fight back? With his magic, it should be possible. It’s suspicious. What was he up to in the first place?** **  
** **

So Kurogane decides to wait a bit before attacking; see what happens. He now has the staff as leverage and if nothing else, he’s confident he can counter whatever the mage plots. First, he swims to grab the staff, regarding it carefully. Magic is dangerous and its items are no exception. He’s heard of some that kill anyone but their owner upon touch alone, but he senses no such threat from this one. Kurogane trusts his instincts.** **  
** **

It doesn’t harm him in the end, but it's not the sort of magic just anyone can use either. Meaning short of hitting someone with it, the staff in all its power's useless to him.** **  
** **

“That’s certainly a greeting,” the mage calls from above as Kurogane surfaces, crouching at the edge of the cliff carelessly, like he isn’t ready to jump at another attack. The pretense almost makes him snort. “Are you gonna give that back?”** **  
** **

Kurogane in turn shows off his teeth. “Are you gonna come and get it?”** **  
** **

The human smiles at that. “Just keep it, then~ I didn’t call you here to fight, anyway.”** **  
** **

So that’s what he wants to play at. Kurogane’s mood turns sour. He doesn’t care to deal with human deceptions or petty whims. They’re no minions to be summoned at any inconvenience. He wonders how much of a lesson he could teach without pissing off Tomoyo. “Then you shouldn’t have called at all.”** **  
** **

“Sorry,” says the mage ruefully. Out of all he’s said, it sounds the most genuine. “I wouldn’t have called if I didn’t really need your help, though that probably doesn’t matter to you. It’s something very important to me; something only someone of the sea can do.”** **  
** **

Kurogane scowls. He respects the mage’s skills, if nothing else, but he has no interest in getting involved with some human. “You’re right,” he replies, “it’s no matter of mine.” ** **  
** **

Still, he’ll have to spare the human now, even if he still intends to get the whistle. There’s no telling what this one will do with it, after all.** **  
** **

“That’s a shame!” The human replies all too brightly, pouting. “Then I’ll have to blow this day-in and day-out until you change your mind.”** **  
** **

Kurogane glares at him, the blood calmed from the battle starting to boil again. What an irritating man. ** **  
** **

“If you came this fast, it must be a real bother of a sound, right? Something you can’t ignore, even if you want to. So really, my matter is also yours, right?”** **  
** **

“Or,” Kurogane says, hostile but unable to quite gather his bloodlust, “I could just fight you for it now.”** **  
** **

“You could,” the human hums. “But my ship leaves today, so it’d be inconvenient. And it’s no good to you if I just run away either, is it?”** **  
** **

Kurogane stays silent, but his glare says enough.** **  
** **

The human stands up straight now, stretching. An easy smile belies the intensity behind his eyes. Kurogane wonders what’s so important to him to make that expression, to start all of this. “So how about a bet instead?”** **  
** **

Kurogane grins with renewed interest. “I’m listening.”

** **

*

“It’ll be a simple game, like hide and seek! My ship leaves today, so-

You have until the next sunrise. _ Find me _.”

** **

*

(“Please, just forget about me- ”)

** **

*

** **

“That’s all?”  ** **  
** **

“Yep! Do that and I’ll give you the whistle; you’ll never hear from me again. But if I win… Promise to hear me out.”

** **

*

(“Kurogane.”)

*** **  
** **

“But first, I'll need something of yours. So that after sunrise, if you haven’t succeeded, my call will reach only you."** **  
** **

"That won't be necessary. I'll win."** **  
** **

"We'll see about that~ But still - a name will be enough.."** **  
** **

*

** **

At first glance, ships look the same from below. Huge floating wooden stomachs, like surface-bound whales. But when you look closely, there’s their size, their shape, little changes Kurogane doesn’t care to find out the human terms for.** **  
** **

All he knows is, Fluorite’s leaves today. They’re gathered in multiple places amongst the shore and Kurogane stays nearby to keep an eye on them all. If he checks if Fluorite is on board before they leave, he doesn’t have to chase after them and risk missing his real departure. He’s made sure to remember it well, the feel of his presence, his stature, his scent. ** **  
** **

Still, Kurogane couldn’t trace him after he left that cliff. It must be magic of some kind. So it’s that against his instincts?** **  
** **

Flitting around the waters to stay aware of the comings and goings of the ships, Kurogane grins, remembering his trump card. Bring it on.

** **

*

More and more ships left and more and more ships arrived. Yet, there’s no sign of blond hair or blue eyes or annoying magicians. ** **  
** **

Night sets and Kurogane realises either Fluorite’s trying to pull one over him by leaving when all else closed down - or he’s already gone.** **  
** **

Growling under his breath, Kurogane changes strategies. He can’t afford to wait around anymore.

** **

*

Swimming forth, chasing after a dozen directions all at once, he leaves behind a city with all of its ships and boats destroyed. What Tomoyo won’t know won’t bother her and what Tomoyo (damned dream-seeing) does know, she’ll get over. Eventually. (It’s not like Kurogane’s killed anyone, after all.)** **  
** **

There’s still the possibility that Fluorite’s kept his safe on land, but beyond keeping at his attempts to sense him, there’s not much Kurogane can do about that. It’s a risk he’s chosen to take, rather than wait any longer uselessly.** **  
** **

Ship after ship he checks - all for nothing. He considers sinking them to be sure, but Tomoyo would be less forgiving about that.** **  
** **

And darker and deeper grows the night; and sunrise gets closer and closer still. Kurogane doesn’t give up. Cursing the mage, he keeps chasing ships down, checking by the port now and then.** **  
** **

Until the very last moment.

** **

*

"Nice to meet you, Kurogane! Call me Fluorite."

*

** **

“Alright, you win,” greets Kurogane candidly as he surfaces at the front of the ship he’s been called to. To his frustration, it’s one he reached near the beginning of the night to find a crew darting around deck, less manned for the late hour but busy still. It was the kind that’s no stranger to bloodlust, a hunter of a vessel. Even without knowing of the flag through hear-say, he can tell. For someone so flighty and so slow to attack, it hadn’t seemed right.** **  
** **

And yet, now the pirate ship is empty except for the mage, his hair glinting in the first few rays of the sun. It’s not that no one else is visible - they’re all gone, the presence vanished. It puts him on edge. “So what did you want me for?”** **  
** **

“Hello again, Kurogane! You’re straight down to business, aren’t you?” The mage greets, his arms crossed on the railing and his head resting on them. Kurogane huffs. He has no patience for the airs this man insists on putting on.** **  
** **

“Hello! Kuro-pii, Kuro-pii!” Kurogane twitches as a blindingly white bird suddenly flies onto Fluorite’s shoulder. Or at least, he’s fairly sure it’s one. If it flies, it’s a bird - he didn’t bother learning more than that and yet something about it feels distinctly unbirdlike, with that red gem on its forehead, its plumage a vase-like shape and an all too shrewd slate to its closed eyes. He glares at it. ** **  
** **

“Sounds like Mokona took a shine to you.” Fluorite scratches the weird thing’s chin and it leans into it, cooing, before focusing on Kurogane again, smile dim. “I need your help looking for something.”** **  
** **

“Can’t you do that yourself? You're pretty strong on your own.”** **  
** **

“Why, thanks! But it’s something that’s beyond my powers to find. It disappeared somewhere under the sea where I can’t find it long ago. I told you, didn’t I? It’s something only one of the sea can do. Could you show him, Mokona?”** **  
** **

Kurogane can still refuse; can still leave this strange man and his strange bird like they were never there. But he can tell - this mage won’t give up. He’ll keep stirring the waters and bothering everyone who happens to live there. ** **  
** **

And besides, Kurogane is a mer of his word. If it’s nothing he’d fight the mage to the death for, he’ll help.** **  
** **

"Sure," The white bird chitters and appears before him, wings spread out to keep it vertically in the air. He has to admit it looks impressive. Then, it presses its gem to his forehead and he sees something else entirely.

*

_ A prism of a world, forever expanding and folding in on itself. Shapeless cognition; every angle of everything all at once. Mirror upon mirror, until- ** **  
** ** _

_ Pain. Retreating. It’s too much to grasp, but once, something broke. Everything, and then- ** **  
** ** _

_ More and less focus all at once. A thread; leading him. ** **  
** ** _

_ Once, a ship carried something very important. Brimming with urgence; should they not deliver in time- ** **  
** ** _

_ So many travels to go on, adventures they’ll find, to get this thing they need. For a king whose heart is lost, who longs for- ** **  
** ** _

_ It’s on board right now, its power hidden yet clear. Crystallised; innocuous in its pearly shape. The skies clear, the wind in their favour. Soon, they’ll taste the air of home. Soon, its future will no longer hang by a thread. As long as they make it in time. ** **  
** ** _

_ Cut off. All ends in grey interference. _

** **

*

“What is it anyway? And what do you need it for?”** **  
** **

*

** **

In the end, what he decides… ** **  
** **

"Fine. I'll come to you if I find something."** **  
** **

"That's no good!" says Fluorite. "No good, no good!" repeats Mokona from where it’s settled on his head. Kurogane shakes it to dislodge its hold, but it keeps stubbornly latching on to him. It’s surprisingly painless; he feels nothing sharp in its feathered feet. ** **  
** **

“You won’t be able to find us and looking for you each time would be way too hard on us,” Fluorite explains, not so subtly laughing at them.** **  
** **

“So that bet wasn’t just a one-off trick? Cheater.” He says so for the record; it’s not like he didn’t expect his opponent to pull some magical bullshit. Except: whatever it is must be more powerful than he’d thought - magic is slow to affect him. “How did you do it, anyway?”** **  
** **

“They say a magician never reveals his secrets,” Fluorite says, the bastard.** **  
** **

“Suit yourself. How did you get rid of the pirates on this ship, then?”** **  
** **

“That’s simple,” he replies without missing a beat. “I’m a pirate too, and we stole it from them.”** **  
** **

By now, no longer trying to kill him, Kurogane’s gotten a good look at the human. Through relation to Tomoyo, he’s more knowledgeable on their clothes than he’d like. White shirt under an open blue coat, golden stitches at its edges. An eye patch on his right eye and a triangle of a black hat, hemmed with gold. Hats! Useful for surface dwellers, but nearly as ridiculous as shoes. Still, without even the hint of a weapon and a generalised sort of pleasantness plastered all over him. ** **  
** **

He looks a half-hearted facsimile of the stories Kurogane’s heard and he speaks the same; truth dressed up as deception, if his light-hearted tone ever even fooled anyone. Kurogane certainly isn’t - he’s already known this man is dangerous.** **  
** **

“We’re the best pirates in these seas!” Mokona chimes in, shifting on his head.

“If the bird says so,” says Kurogane.** **  
** **

“I’m not a bird, I’m Mokona!” huffs Mokona, previously non-existent claws suddenly digging into his scalp. “And Mokona can do lots of things! Like drink a who~ole bar empty by herself, or sense magic!”** **  
** **

Only one of these things sounded remotely useful. Kurogane didn’t know birds drank alcohol anyway - he only knows of it ‘cause occasionally some bottles landed at the bottom himself. Then again, he hadn’t known them to talk either. But whatever Mokona is, it doesn’t matter and neither does them apparently being pirates. ** **  
** **

“In any case, call me only when necessary then."** **  
** **

"That's Kuro-puu for you!" The white thing cuddles into his hair, rubbing her chin all over it. "You're so wet, eww."** **  
** **

"Of course, I am," Kurogane snaps, "I live in the fucking sea!" Fed up, he dives under. "How’s for that?”** **  
** **

"So unfair!" She complains and draws a pirouette in the air before settling on the railing to shake off her feathery feet.** **  
** **

"I will," Fluorite says softly. "Thank you, Kuro-puu."** **  
** **

The white bird trills like this is everything she ever wanted. Kurogane swipes at her once again for good measure. ** **  
** **

"Hey, don't mimic this thing."** **  
** **

"Rude! Kuro-puu’s so rude!" The bird-thing draws circles in front of him. "I'm not a thing, I'm Mokona!" ** **  
** **

"You heard her," Fluorite laughs. "Mokona's the boss, so you're Kuro-puu now!" ** **  
** **

Kurogane twists to direct a stream at them from behind him with his tail. Mokona screeches and cuddles into the inside of mage's marginally drier jacket sulkily, feathers clinging to her. 

** **

*

Why is Kurogane even surprised they end up distracting him more often than that.

** **

*

“It’s definitely necessary!” says Mokona not very convincingly around a meatball. ** **  
** **

“We’ll get done quicker if we pool our knowledge, Kuro-pii!” adds Fluorite, munching on some weird form of fish.

** **

*

"It's nothing that'll harm any mer." ** **  
** **

That strange note of faraway sincerity again, as in the request; how is it whenever the mage feels most honest, something’s the most off about him? A discord within himself, like he isn’t entirely there.** **  
** **

Still; this much, Kurogane believes. "How about humans?" ** **  
** **

Fluorite’s eyelids meet and Kurogane remembers this blinking thing is something humans need to do. Tomoyo once did it for fun, to try it; he still judges her. 

"Awww, so you do care, Kuro-pii~"** **  
** **

"Not really. I'm not asking for my own sake."** **  
** **

The pirate has a complicated expression as he says, "How unexpected for a brute like you to have such kind-hearted friends."****  
****

*

** **

Kurogane doesn’t believe in dragging things out needlessly. The waters are calm, food’s enough to go around and if Tomoyo sees any dangers for their area, she doesn't act it. No way around it; if any, now is the best time to go off running errands for some mage's quest. ** **  
** **

His duty is to her first and foremost. A waking period he works; guarding her and making patrols in turns. Mer are a varied kind, but whether cities of close-knitted homes or habitually on the go, they all like to live on their own terms. As sworn protector of their area and guardian of sealed evils below, Tomoyo holds both sway and responsibility over them, if limited. ** **  
** **

In the halls of corals and hardened sand, where she resides along the elected chief of the main City of Passing Lights, he talks to her, hesitating despite himself. He's never asked for days off before. ** **  
** **

Tomoyo smiles, pleased but not as surprised as she could be. Seers, the lot of them. "So you finally found something worth taking time off for? I'm glad." ** **  
** **

Kurogane's gills flare and the fins on his elbows twitch. Were he using his lungs, he'd snort. "I just found a hobby, like you said. That's all." Again, he pauses. He makes a point not to ask after her predictions, but in this case… "It could take some time. When should I be back?" ** **  
** **

Measuring time equally is a struggle this far beneath the sea, where light barely reaches. There are ways, but it’s different depending on where you are. Kurogane's built for many depths, but he rarely has reason to venture far. ** **  
** **

Tomoyo touches the tip of his index finger and it shifts from its grey to something brighter. Many mers' scales shine gold on the inside. "When this shines pure gold, turn back. Then, we'll need you for one last time."** **  
** **

"What do you mean?" Kurogane asks flatly, tail starting to thrash. "This is just for some time. After I come back, everything will be back to normal." He eyes her, waiting if she'd contradict him. ** **  
** **

But Tomoyo just smiles. "If that's what you decide."** **  
** **

"Of course," Kurogane replies, vaguely insulted and wondering, for once, what the hell she saw for him. ** **  
** **

** **

*

There were two territories once, each guarding half of what was sealed. Had Kurogane magic, he would've come to succeed his mother in guarding it. He didn't and as such took to learning to fight for more than food with full-hearted dedication. So he'd one day protect, just like his father, her and all he claims as his.

But this he gets from her; a sense for the powers surrounding them and a resistance to them. 

*** **  
** **

Off Kurogane sets, scouring that old ship's course for a wreck, for remains, for anything at all. Close enough to the bottom to notice anything as such, near enough the surface to recognise the course that that bird-thing had shown him. ** **  
** **

It's no battle, but for that reason too it's easy to get lost in the hunt. Until he's called upwards. Again. 

** **

*

It’s annoying except when it stops being that. There’s an orbit pulling at them all. It settles around them so naturally it barely registers, raising none of Kurogane’s defenses. It’s a level of comfort he only has with fellow guards he’s known half a lifetime, except far from the same. Like they've known each other much longer. ** **  
** **

And it's not just him. The mage with the faded presence, more untethered than flighty, his omissions and all too happy lies - he’s less distant than he means to be. ** **  
** **

That white thing is the strangest. There’s sadness in the way she looks at them. Kurogane knows grief well-enough to recognise it. Whoever it is she sees in them, he doesn’t know. He strokes her head harshly and doesn’t treat them differently for it.** **  
** **

Whatever this is, it’s not magic, nor manipulation. There’s nothing to be done about it, so he leaves it be. 

*

** **

This isn’t to say Kurogane fully trusts them or loses sight of their goal. "We'd also get done sooner if I got more time to search." 

"True, but we're searching in the same direction, aren't we?" says the pirate on their nutshell of a new ship. ** **  
** **

"Don't compare me to you,” says Kurogane, regarding it judgmentally. “I'm much faster than this piece of wood. What’d you do with the last one anyways?” ** **  
** **

“We gave it back~” sings Mokona without a care in the world.** **  
** **

Kurogane stares at them. “..What kind of pirates are you?”

** **

*

The kind that targets magic along their route specifically, it appears. Mokona as the proud navigator (self-proclaimed) and Fai checking whatever she points out. Which is to say, usually magicking the crews away for the time being.** **  
** **

This way, they search the surface. ** **  
** **

“Remember those pirates on the first ship? I got them out of the way. Though when Mokona senses magic, the people on board are often pretty powerful themselves, so this doesn’t always work out. Teleporting mages who won’t stand still is a pain,” Fluorite recounts, his blue eye glimmering unnaturally. ** **  
** **

This, apparently, is also how they found the whistle. “Mokona’s the best at finding things!” is all she comments on that. ** **  
** **

“Then find whatever you’re looking for already,” says Kurogane in return.** **  
** **

“So mean!” She draws a pirouette in the sky, as she likes to whenever she isn’t cuddling up to someone. Show-off. But, settling on the nose of the boat, she looks uncharacteristically down-trodden. “Mokona’s _ trying _ .” ** **  
** **

“And Mokona’s doing a great job!” Fluorite scoops her up. The boat keeps moving like it’s not being manned by two of the most irresponsible beings. Magic. At least the pirate appears hyper-competent at that.** **  
** **

“You’re not too shabby,” says Kurogane. “If it’s there, you’ll find it eventually.”** **  
** **

There’s something stricken about the way the mage glances at him at that, but the white bird brightens, looking up with teary eyes. ** **  
** **

“Despite how he seems, Kuro-pii is still kind.”

** **

*

“How did you two end up travelling together anyway?”** **  
** **

“Oh, I stole Mokona away from a witches’ lair~”** **  
** **

Why does Kurogane even expect a normal reply to anything, ever.

** **

*

** **

And so they journey on.** **  
** **

“Kuro-pii’s bullying me!” cries the white thing.** **  
** **

“You stole my fish. Straight out of my hands.” ** **  
** **

Mokona cleans her feathers innocently. ** **  
** **

“Don’t you try to be fucking cute with me.” ** **  
** **

“Don’t worry, Mokona!” Fai joins the mix, while actually using the sail for once. “I won’t let the scary Kuro-sama get to you~”

** **

*

This is how they distrust each other: keeping quiet on what they’re searching for, still. Kurogane doesn’t ask again and in turn, keeps his own information close. Despite Fluorite’s promise, despite Kurogane believing it, there’s no telling what he might do, in the end. 

The pirate laughs and teases, and never gets within reach, the whistle wooden and unassuming around his neck. Kurogane never leaves the water, nor quite stops watching out for harmful magic.** **  
** **

He’s fine with this; he’d rather it stay that way and so, he can tell, does the pirate.

Of course things just can’t work out like this with them involved.

*

** **

Mokona is the exception. When their journey’s close to ending, he asks her this. “How did you know to trust us?”** **  
** **

“What do you mean, Kuro-pii?” The bird turns to him with that way of practically radiating her emotions.** **  
** **

“Going along with someone who stole you away. Getting close enough to be torn apart when you didn’t even know me."** **  
** **

“Kuro-pii wouldn’t do that! It’s a strange story, but I know it. And besides, Mokona wasn’t stolen! It wasn’t her Fai was going to steal.”** **  
** **

“...Don’t just go around announcing people’s names,” Kurogane says, struck despite himself. To tell someone a true name… That’s a whole different level of trust than what even he was talking about.** **  
** **

“It’s not,” the white bird says, all twisted up uncharacteristically. The grief he’d sensed coming to the surface. “I like to call him that, but this him wouldn’t like it.”** **  
** **

“So you can respect people’s names after all,” Kurogane says wrily, rubbing her cheek. Lighting the mood is not his way, but for the sake of those he cares about is a different matter.** **  
** **

“That’s because Kuro-pii doesn’t really mind, does he?” She says, chipper.** **  
** **

“Shut up,” he says, still stroking her. ** **  
** **

*

** **

Kurogane surfaces to find them stuffing themselves happily, once. So it’s not just magic they steal. ** **  
** **

“Look, Kuro-pii, look, we robbed a rich tourist ship on the way!” Mokona greets him, gesturing to the load of food weighing down their nutshell of a ship.** **  
** **

“Didn’t take that one over?” he asks wrily. ** **  
** **

“It’s way too big!” Fluorite chimes in. “You believe in my magic that much, Kuro-rin?”** **  
** **

“You do everything else with it.”** **  
** **

There’s a beat where Fluorite pauses, blue eye turning pensive. “Do I?” ** **  
** **

The moment gone, he commiserates with the white thing over Kurogane’s cruelty. He rolls his eyes. “So what’d you call me up for this time?”** **  
** **

“Rude! We even wanted to share our loot with you!” says Mokona.** **  
** **

“It’s true, Mokona even suggested it,” adds the pirate. “Even though she loves food.” Mokona agrees enthusiastically. Then, he regards Kurogane curiously. “Can you even eat human food?”** **  
** **

“Haven’t tried,” says Kurogane, caught between touched and insulted. “And I can get my own food.”** **  
** **

Mokona gasps. “Do you catch it yourself? With your teeth?” ** **  
** **

Shouldn’t birds or whatever she was do that themselves too? No matter, Kurogane didn’t really feel like finding out. “That’s unsanitary, I cut them apart first, of course. But I do hunt myself when no markets are around. Or if I feel like it.”** **  
** **

“Wow!” says the pirate, clapping. “I’m sure Kuro-rin is a great hunter.” Mokona joins him in clapping.** **  
** **

Kurogane smiles and bares his teeth at them for a moment. It’s true, but the two had a way of making compliments sound ridiculous. ** **  
** **

In the end, he tries some fish, even some pale round bread filled with meat. “It looks like you,” he tells the bird as he chews. Mokona is offended. Fluorite laughs.

** **

*

“Kuro-pii…” From her half-dozing state, Mokona sounds urgent. “What Fai did steal, back then, was my dream.”** **  
** **

“A dream,” Kurogane says flatly.** **  
** **

“Yes. Mokonas can do lots of things, but most of all, we dream. We dream everything that has happened and all that will and the things that didn’t happen. Fai saw something in Mokona’s dream and now he’s chasing it.”** **  
** **

“Alright.” Kurogane waits for her to continue.** **  
** **

“Mokona isn’t the only Mokona. The other Mokona is dreaming everything by himself now.” Her voice cracks. “He must be lonely. But there’s something Mokona must do first, because he shared the memories of the stolen dream with Mokona. This is why Mokona knows… he’s searching for a Phoenix tear.”** **  
** **

*

** **

Kurogane takes to bringing them fish in return once their disproportionate pickings ran out way too fast (the pirate hadn’t exaggerated the bird’s love for food), despite the teasing that brings.** **  
** **

Fluorite bats his eyelashes at him (which. Blinking? Still weird) and calls him Papa-Fish. Kurogane throws an actual fish in his face in return. Then another, because of fucking course the damn pirate ducks away. This one lands. Fluorite is unrepentant and only amends that personality-wise, Kurogane’s more like a big dog.** **  
** **

Mokona is in hysterics. Kurogane has no idea what a dog is, but doesn’t care for it on principle alone.** **  
** **

The pirate asks about the weirdest fish he’s seen and Kurogane delivers, perching on the now steadier railing as he does so.** **  
** **

Fluorite’s eye widens like he know what it means for Kurogane to leave the safety of the waters, even if he’s far from defenceless still. There’s a bittersweet slant to his mouth as he listens to Kurogane’s tales.

** **

*

“When this is over,” Mokona asks once, still at the beginning, “is Kuro-rin going to leave?”** **  
** **

“Of course,” he says, insides twisting up unexpectedly. “I have a job, you know.”** **  
** **

Listening with that distant smile of his, the pirate comments, “So even a merman like you has a job, how amazing!"** **  
** **

Kurogane glares at him. “Don't put it in this insulting way. What about the two of you, anyway?”** **  
** **

“Mokona’s a free spirit,” sings Mokona. ** **  
** **

“That’s great, I’d like to be like Mokona~” replies Fluorite and, eye downcast, adds, “once this is done, I can go back home too.”

** **

*

Phoenix tears are the stuff of myths. It’d be easier to ask what they _ can’t _ do than what they can, if you believe them all. But what it’s almost known for is the rumor it can bring people back from the dead. ** **  
** **

Kurogane doesn’t entirely believe in it, nor entirely disbelieve. But either way, it’s not something that should be used. There’s this kind of legend for mer flesh as well; and no one was ever made happy by it. Those who come back are never the same as before. Some things in this world are simply impossible. Still, he’s made a promise, so he’ll help them still.** **  
** **

*

** **

"You aren’t actually scary at all, Kuro-sama,” says Fluorite off-handedly between drinks, with the white bird-thing snoring loudly already, “even though you tried to kill me.”** **  
** **

Sitting on the railing, tail dangling into the water in a way that would’ve drowned their previous vessel, Kurogane snorts. "You're not so scary yourself, pirate."** **  
** **

"But I am," Fluorite says. From anyone else, the words would be arrogant. From him, they're almost resigned. "Kuro-sama's just fearless like that."** **  
** **

Kurogane doesn't dispute it. He can't be fooled by light words and smiles; as little as a hide-out of corals could fool the nose of a shark. And for all he's thought of the mage, it had never been weakness - nor is Kurogane one to fear anyone he can fight. ** **  
** **

But Fluorite, he's discovered, always thinks himself worse than he is; always loathes himself all the more for the roads he's chosen to walk. It's the kind of idiocy Kurogane would love to punch out of him.** **  
** **

“You’re not even a good pirate,” he says instead.** **  
** **

This time, Fluorite’s the one to snort, sake dripping from his nose. Kurogane swats at his back. Gross. ** **  
** **

“I’m the _ best _ pirate,” he sings, bending backwards so he leans against Kurogane, hair soft and ticklish under his throat. Neither of them is drunk enough to be doing this, but it’s a good enough excuse for their looseness. Just for a night. “And Mokona too, of course!” ** **  
** **

“Sure,” replies Kurogane, all dryness and warmth. He drapes his arm over the pirate.** **  
** **

“Your skin’s really rough, Kuro-sama. You make a horrible pillow,” Fluorite says and ends up falling asleep against him anyway.

** **

*

** **

Fluorite spirals as they get closer to the place where the ship’s route mysteriously ended. He calls on Kurogane less and ends up bandaged or limping more; the first he’s seen his raids affect the mage. ** **  
** **

The white bird frets. Kurogane’s agitation builds. He stays closer to the surface, keeping their ship in sight now that he can’t rely on the pirate to call him every other day.** **  
** **

He’s avoiding using magic and Kurogane doesn’t know why.** **  
** **

"Isn't it a good thing for me to stop relying on it so much?" asks Fluorite with his skyblue eye, that has only gotten bluer and bluer while Kurogane has known him. There's something flickering about him, even more so than usual. His magic thrums, wild and alive as ever. "Kuro-puu also said I use it too much~" ** **  
** **

"I didn't mean this," Kurogane responds flatly. "And since when do you listen to me anyway? Quit using me as an excuse."** **  
** **

"Sorry," Fluorite says, with his strange sincerity. "Though I do listen to you!" ** **  
** **

"When. And nothing quest-related."** **  
** **

"So strict!" says the mage. Kurogane rolls his eyes and wonders if this is the white bird's influence in the pirate or if it’s he who’s influenced her. Either way, they’re a pair of idiots and he won’t let them infect him. "Well, I don't exactly do what you say, but I remember everything you've told me. Or close to it, at least."** **  
** **

"You’re distracting me," notes Kurogane.** **  
** **

“Kuro-rin’s too sharp sometimes,” the pirate says, glancing downwards. “But this is probably something he won’t understand.”** **  
** **

“Try me.”** **  
** **

“Well, my eyes are the source of my magic, you see. The one I lost,” he points at the eyepatch, ”would shorten my lifespan for each time I used it. But my remaining left one… Every time I use my magic, it grows. There’s consequences to unbalanced things,” he explains, his smile bitter, “so I guess I’m scared that should it grow too much, it’ll twist me. That it’ll be like gaining a life of its own.”** **  
** **

Kurogane nods. “Magic aside, I do understand that. But why now? That’s always been a danger, hasn’t it?”** **  
** **

“I didn’t care then,” Fluorite admits, voice small and smiles painfully. “Now I do. But what do you mean about understanding?”** **  
** **

Kurogane snorts unhappily, tail itching to thrash and unload all the painful emotions through swimming, fighting, anything at all. But Fluorite has given him honesty and Kurogane doesn’t like owing, even if it’s no debt anyone would ask of him. ** **  
** **

“I’ve lost control of myself once. I was young and it didn’t end well,” he recounts, keeping his voice steady. “Do you know about sharks?” He shows his teeth. “About the frenzy that comes over them when too many gather to eat?” Bitterness shining through, he continues, “it was something like that. And I’ll never let it happen again.”** **  
** **

“So you do know,” says Fluorite, bitterness and wonder all mixed together. “And you’re still able to say this. You’re too much, Kuro-sama.”** **  
** **

“It’s far from easy. It’s not something that’s always possible either,” Kurogane points out, “but it’s not something restricted just to some people, a matter of innate talent or personality or the like. Anyone has the potential to manage it.”** **  
** **

And so, goes unspoken, do you.

** **

*

** **

The mage starts leaning with the whistle glaringly present at his neck, coming close as he can without touching Kurogane.** **  
** **

Is this a test, he wonders at first, piqued, before he wonders worse. It eats at him, his agitation bad enough it disturbs his hunt.** **  
** **

So once, Kurogane lunges at him, claws swinging like he’ll tear his throat out.** **  
** **

Fluorite doesn’t react; no sight of his usual magic or even reflexes.** **  
** **

Kurogane stops at his throat. So the mage is that fatalistic after all. It settles in his throat like hardened magma, hot and heavy. “...Kuro-rin?”** **  
** **

“Is that what you want from me?” He asks straight-out, teeth gritted. “To kill you?”** **  
** **

“No,” says the mage, smile momentarily gone with shock. “Nothing so dramatic. I just need you to help me find what I’m looking for.” It returns, ill-fitted and dim. “After all, you didn’t do it. Right?”

*

** **

Kurogane stops following the ship's course. He gets food only for himself and keeps watching his fingertip closely. It stays at a constant bronze. There's no excuse to turn back and he wouldn't want one anyway. ** **  
** **

Kurogane dislikes leaving things unresolved. But right now, he storms on the inside. ** **  
** **

Damn mage. Damn him with his contradictions, with his wild blue eye and warring one-track-mind and self-destructiveness. Damn the white bird-thing's sadness and both of their secrets. ** **  
** **

Damn Kurogane for caring, for not leaving well enough alone. ** **  
** **

Kurogane's leash for himself is short. He knows what losing control makes him capable of. But no blood, no death surrounds him except in his thoughts; and so, he loses himself in the hunt. 

** **

*

“------- -- ----!"

*

** **

Iron claws strike into shadows made flesh in a space neither sea nor land, on a watery ground that stretches endlessly, reflecting inky darkness and countless droplets of light and, of course, the battle. 

(He’s been some place like this before, but the memory slips away before it can take hold.)** **  
** **

Kurogane’s eyes shine red as he barrels against yet another demon. He’s deadly enough without a weapon. With it, he can challenge swarms. The droplets provide more than enough light, even when it’s barely visible through the sheer mass of the demons. Slashing them down one by one; a true fight to survive, no ploys or holding back. Kurogane’s never been so free.** **  
** **

“Leave some for us!” says Ryu-oh, sword already in hand as he appears with Yuzuriha at his back. They make for a dangerous duo.** **  
** **

Kurogane grins at them in between attacking. “Then try to keep up.”** **  
** **

“You two are the same with your love for fighting,” says Yuzuriha, taking out a demon Kurogane had just gone for. He scowls at her grinning face. Kids.** **  
** **

[A place, where everyone can live happily together…]

[That is what we wanted to create.]** **  
** **

Outside the battle area, he treats the human kids to celebratory pastries with the coins gained from it. He rubs his ears. There’s a strange buzz that won’t leave.** **  
** **

“Are you okay?” asks Yuzuriha, taking a break from rhapsodising about the taste. “Did you take damage during the battle?” Ryu-oh follows up, adding, “old man.”** **  
** **

“Shut up, kid,” Kurogane tells him, “and I didn’t. It’s nothing.”** **  
** **

But despite his best efforts to ignore it, the buzzing continues, irritating and relentless. He keeps himself together until roughly bidding the kids goodbye, slumping on the cafe moonlighting as a bar’s table. ** **  
** **

“Rough day?” Caldina asks. He opens his eyes just enough to see her floating behind the counter, her scales shining bronze in the red evening light. He grunts in response. “You look like you need a healing potion.”** **  
** **

“Yeah, I might,” he says, rummaging in his bag. She slides a vial over to him through the air. With her location based powers, there’s few things she can’t do in the bar. “Thanks.”** **  
** **

“You owe me now,” she says, smiling with one eye closed. ** **  
** **

“Of course I do,” mutters Kurogane. Practically no one ever gives you anything for free, here. His ears still ring. It makes his heart race with fear not his own and he staggers.** **  
** **

Now she looks at him with real concern. “You still don’t look too good. You should hit up the Immediate Service.”** **  
** **

“Yeah,” he says again, not feeling up to much of anything else, hand pressed to his chest. He doesn’t know what’s fucking happening, but he hates it, hates it, hates it. ** **  
** **

Slowly, way too slowly, he makes his way towards it, the bluish stream of a ground too bright beneath him. He wants to curl up and scream. His head rings in desperate bursts now. What is it, what do you want, he thinks at it. What are you so scared about.** **  
** **

The pearly gates to the Service Center rise up in front of him. He’s made it somehow and never been gladder for its endless opening hours. He reaches for the door handle and freezes.** **  
** **

His fingertip blooms a heady mead. ‘When this shines gold, turn back.’ His head aches from a different pain now, turning itself inside and out. Who was it that said it? What is it that he’s supposed to do? Who is it calling for him so desperately?** **  
** **

Suddenly, his thoughts are clearer than they’ve been in a long time.** **  
** **

[Welcome to Outou!]** **  
** **

He remembers now, what he’s heard and what was so familiar. He’s been to a place like this before and it’d put him on his guard back then as well. Rage engulfs his heart This is a lie of a place and he’s going to destroy it. ** **  
** **

Did this happen to that ship too? Has he found what they were looking for without meaning to? Just how many souls did this place cage, erasing their lives with its spell?** **  
** **

He wishes he could contact Fluorite and tell them he’s alright, but he’ll just have to power through the call until he’s done with this. Kurogane intends to finish this quickly. He tears into the pearly gates, this all too perfect facade, rips off the door. ** **  
** **

“What are you doing?” asks the municipality, short locks bobbing in distress. “Inhabitants are prohibited from fighting outside the battle area.”** **  
** **

“Says who?” asks Kurogane in return, grinning dangerously. “Who decided this? Who created this place?”** **  
** **

“I’m afraid that information is inaccessible,” replies the municipality, helpful despite the situation. No - it’s that she can’t act otherwise, Kurogane realises. This is why she’s around to help around the clock. This is why she has identical sisters. She must be a part of this. He moves in, pinning her to the desk. ** **  
** **

“Then who do I ask?”** **  
** **

“I’m afraid that information is inaccessible,” replies the municipality again.** **  
** **

“Then,” says Kurogane, turning away from her and turning his fury towards the rest of the center, “I’m going to destroy everything in this place until they come out.”** **  
** **

“That is prohibited,” repeats the municipality, rising.** **  
** **

“Just try and stop me.” Smirking, Kurogane rams a wall at full power, leaving it cracked and crumbling. The municipality rushes towards him, as some sort of alarm starts to blare. Kurogane throws her into another wall, leaving a hole of an impact. Whatever she is, she wasn’t made for fighting, not like he is.** **  
** **

Suddenly, a whirlwind of a storm; right in the middle of the center, blasting away everything around it, breaking through the ceiling. Kurogane strains to keep from being blown away, hooking his iron claws into the floor. ** **  
** **

Out of the blast steps the bar’s singer. Oruha or something. He doesn’t often stay that late nor is her singing his thing, so he doesn’t know her well. But surrounding her is a mass of a demon. No mere form of a shadow but a beast of a body, with a giant vertical eye right in the middle and a glowing light just above her head.** **  
** **

“So you’re the final boss?” Kurogane asks, digging out his claws as he crouches, preparing to attack. Something about her is different, obvious monstrousness aside. The usual liveliness in her eyes is gone, replaced by the same look as the municipality. Could she be another puppet? No, it wouldn’t add up. Either she’s better at pretending or she too has forgotten herself.** **  
** **

Kurogane grits his teeth. Looks like he can’t go wild after all, nor manage to finish this quickly. ** **  
** **

Spikes of darkness rush towards him with a raise of her hand. Kurogane evades, but misses a second attack that cuts his cheek. Wiping away the blood, he readies to attack himself. He won’t lose control of himself, the freedom this place gave him gone, but neither will he allow himself to be slaughtered. There’s power coming from both her and that light, so he targets it, faking an attack from one side before switching to the other. ** **  
** **

It succeeds in taking her by surprise. Must be the spell - the Oruha he knows is way too sharp to let herself get fooled by this simple a trick. His luck, then. He slices down the light and-** **  
** **

The explosion throws him back and holds him in place all at once, power streaming out into nothingness as a feather shatters under his blow. Kurogane’s eyes widen and close as with it, a memory streams into him.** **  
** **

[That is all we wished for.]** **  
** **

A place very much like this one. Warm feelings; love. A family in the making. Kurogane is there too and so are the pirate and the bird-thing in another form. ** **  
** **

When he opens his eyes again, he aches for this life he’s never lived and yet-** **  
** **

Oruha blinks at him, monstrous still, but eyes no longer dead. “You destroyed it.”** **  
** **

“Yes,” Kurogane agrees and smiles at her. “No thank you?” ** **  
** **

“I wish I could do that,” she replies, smirking in that way of hers. “And you did free us from the memories this place took from us. But you’ve destroyed it all the same.”** **  
** **

Kurogane sucks in a breath as the realisation hits. “It’s what powered this place.”** **  
** **

“Yes,” agrees Oruha, pained yet standing tall.** **  
** **

“What about the humans here? The kids?”** **  
** **

“Once it fades completely, they’ll die in these depths.”** **  
** **

Kurogane swears and starts pacing. “How can we save them?”** **  
** **

“You can’t,” she says, still with that deathly calm. “But I can.”** **  
** **

“What are you planning,” asks Kurogane flatly, wary. From her tone, it doesn’t sound too good. Nor does she look it - her demon side flickers and her essence starts to fade. “What are you _ doing _ ?” he asks with renewed urgence, making his way towards her. ** **  
** **

“Getting this place back to how it’s supposed to be,” she says, smiling still. “It was never meant to fool people or close them away from the world. Me checking things inside and her keeping watch outside, until the end of the trial run, that’s how we planned it.”** **  
** **

“Stop it,” orders Kurogane. “Whatever you’re doing, we’ll find another way.”** **  
** **

“There’s no other way. Or at least, none we can find in time. Listen to me. You’ll need to explain it to the rest later.”** **  
** **

Kurogane holds his peace angrily. There’s nothing else he can think to do, not without magic. And that, he’s never had.** **  
** **

“Though they should remember most of it on their own now. It started when we found this power. We wanted to use it to create a place where everyone, no matter their nature, could live together happily. But during our trial run… There was an attack. A demon beast the like of which we’d never seen before.”** **  
** **

“The evil sealed below,” Kurogane guesses. There was only ever one of those, thankfully.** **  
** **

“So it got sealed.” She smiles vindictively, fading at the edges and the remains of the feather glowing again. “_ Good _ .” Oruha continues, more pained than he’s ever heard her, “I couldn’t reach Chitose anymore. It probably got to her and without the two of us keeping it in check, the magic of this place twisted in on itself.” ** **  
** **

“And you were caught in your own creation,” Kurogane finishes grimly.** **  
** **

“Yes,” she says. “But… If it was just that, the magic should’ve turned on us long ago, leaving us all unthinking puppets. It didn’t, so something- someone must’ve been influencing it all along. It must be her, I can feel it.”** **  
** **

Oruha’s smile turns crooked. “So you see, my motivation isn’t at all noble. I’m just doing what I want. For that, I’ll make myself into the power that will keep this place alive and free.”** **  
** **

“Damn it,” Kurogane curses and rubs the bridge of his nose. His ears have grown numb. “You’re one selfish woman.”** **  
** **

“Never let it be said I’m not,” says the bar-singer and monster and creator of Outou and vanishes.** **  
** **

(Like foam, he sees but for a moment; her and a prim-looking mermaid, holding hands within the light. Really, what a selfish woman.)

** **

*** **  
** **

Kurogane’s been in a place like this one before; neither sea nor land, created by magic… Something not entirely of this world and as such, difficult to find. A place he sought for the sake of another’s wish.** **  
** **

*

** **

By the time Kurogane gets back to the ship, the calling has stopped. Nobody in Outou had been able to tell him how long he’d actually been there. At least his fingertips aren’t yet gold. He wouldn’t forgive himself if he failed Tomoyo because he got stuck on this journey he chose to go along on.** **  
** **

It’s a dark, moonless night and he searches and searches. Leaving Outou had been as easy as asking the municipality, but finding Fluorite without the calling to guide him is nigh impossible. It’s the bird-thing he manages to sense in the end. Mokona would take pride in that if she knew. He smiles at the thought.** **  
** **

Once he gets closer, he can sense Fluorite again. He closes his eyes and breathes in the familiar scent, magic and wind and cold. He hadn’t noticed how much he’d missed it. A chant fills the air and words of black-violet-red flash on the ship, the white bird but a speck in the dark distance.** **  
** **

Fluorite is pale and wild-eyed in their electric light, no jacket and shirt missing buttons, his magic grown to the point Kurogane can feel it in the air. He’s losing himself the way Kurogane keeps himself from doing, he can tell, the way he was afraid of becoming, and it disquiets Kurogane. What happened for him to make that kind of face?** **  
** **

“Hey,” he calls, swimming closer. “What’s going on?”** **  
** **

Fluorite turns to him like he’s seen a ghost, words of power dying out just like that, his eye too wide and hair too strainy. There’s a desperation to him that even the call didn’t prepare Kurogane for. ** **  
** **

Before he can ask further, Kurogane’s assaulted by white lightning. Mokona sticks to his cheek like she plans to live there forever. Her feathers tickle his nose and he barely keeps from sneezing. ** **  
** **

“You’re alive,” Fluorite says tonelessly and Kurogane sees him at the railing, gripping it tight enough to stretch his skin thinner and paler still. He must’ve rushed over. “You’re back.”** **  
** **

“Yes,” says Kurogane, meeting his gaze and not knowing what to do with all these feelings, right out in the open. It’s whiplash from the last time he’d seen the mage, drowning in his secrets.** **  
** **

“We couldn’t find you at all,” whispers Mokona pitifully into his face, cuddling up impossibly more. “I was scared you’d be gone for good, like that ship… And so was Fai.”** **  
** **

“I’m still here,” says Kurogane, mussing up the feathers on her head, keeping his eyes on Fluorite. At this, his eyes close and he slumps in relief, still holding on to the railing. “And I know where to find what you're looking for.”** **  
** **

Fluorite shoots up again, a mess of emotions on his face. “Where?”

** **

*** **  
** **

That ship came to Outou once, the citizens tell him. Caldina and the old man with the weapons remember it the best. A storm brought them there and kept them from their path. They too forgot themselves in Outou’s peace, until a curse took effect.; each day, their bodies rotted away and so they remembered their task. ** **  
** **

Their god-king’s heart had been taken by longing for another that was dead, so much he’d come to ruin the living for a chance to see him again, a seer foretold. And so they set out again, with their ghost of a ship and corpses of bodies, seeking a world beyond humans that they could no longer return to.** **  
** **

An obsession with no end or resolution. They must be traveling the same route to this day. The way to the human side of the island of two Gods - Ashurayama.** **  
** **

“But,” Caldina adds, sorrow fresh on her face, “don’t underestimate them. They’re walking dead who don’t know themselves; the harm they can bring is very real. This information’s on the house, by the way.”

** **

*

“He was searching for you,” Mokona whispers too and later still, “If he didn’t find you, I would’ve slept once again so he could find you in my dream.”

(“So please, Kuro-rin-”)

*

** **

Fluorite’s eye shines. This isn’t simply a figure of speech. Ever since Kurogane came back, it’s glowed an other-wordly blue. His magic is an ever-present hum. Whatever he was afraid of becoming, he might have made himself into. He stares, transfixed and mutters, “Finally…”** **  
** **

Then, the full force of his gaze on Kurogane, he says, “Thank you- Korogane.”** **  
** **

Kurogane flinches and feels Mokona tremble, near tears.** **  
** **

“And thank you too, Mokona. You two have helped me so much- I can’t even put it into words.” Fluorite leans over the railing and reaches to his neck. Into Kurogane’s hands, he drops the whistle. “Here, as promised. Now you can go back to your job and to your life.”** **  
** **

Kurogane grits his teeth. This isn’t how this was supposed to go.** **  
** **

“Now that I know where to find them, I’ll definitely fulfill my promise with you, Mokona, and I won’t need your help anymore either. So you can go back to sleep and keep the other Mokona company again.** **  
** **

“Fa- Fluorite,” says Mokona, tears falling from her eyes.** **  
** **

“You think I’ve traveled all this way only to let you do the rest alone?” Kurogane asks, his frustration barely held back.** **  
** **

“Sorry,” says Fluorite. “If there’s anything from the magic items Mokona and I have stolen I can give to make up for it, I will.”** **  
** **

“That’s not what I mean!” Kurogane thunders, heaving himself up by the railing, where Fluorite’s hands still rest and staring up into his eyes, Mokona puffing herself up beside him. ** **  
** **

Fluorite stares right back, like he can’t tear his eye away even if he wants to. And Kurogane feels he can still get some sense into him. That there’s still something he can do so distance and magic and whatever else got its teeth in him won’t take him away. So he kisses him, close-mouthed and hard, like a promise.** **  
** **

Mokona actually gives them space (or just tries to keep from being pushed off his shoulder by accident) by taking off and aah-ing above them.** **  
** **

Fluorite kisses back, pressing a hand against the back of Kurogane’s head, hesitant yet insistent. Then, they pull apart - faces still so close, Kurogane still holding himself up with his arms. His eyes half-lidded, Fluorite gives him a painful watery smile and whispers, “If I could, I’d choose you.”** **  
** **

Then, all Kurogane faces is the night air.

** **

*** **  
** **

(“So please, don’t be so angry you hate him for ir.”)** **  
** **

“As if I’m going to let that idiot do as he pleases.”** **  
** **

Abandoning the ship, they leave - one swimming, the other flying and leading the way. But first, Mokona tells him the rest of her dream - and leaving it for Kurogane to decide, if he’ll still want to follow.

** **

*** **  
** **

There are three ways to bring back someone who is dead. One, the tear of a Phoenix, a long extinct being. Two, the flesh of a mer. And three…** **  
** **

*

** **

“Hide,” he tells Mokona once the ghostly ship is in sight. From a distance, it’s indistinguishable from a normal one, except for the stench of death. He doesn’t sense Fluorite, but that means nothing when it comes to him.** **  
** **

“Is Kuro-rin going to be okay?” asks Mokona, quivering.** **  
** **

He quirks a smile at her. “Yes. Unlike that idiot, I’m not going to rush towards death.” Mokona nods, putting on a brave face in spite of her tears. ** **  
** **

Before Kurogane goes, he tells her, “I saw a memory in that world below. This other us that you miss.”** **  
** **

“Kuro-rin…”** **  
** **

“We’re not them. Nor will I try to act like it. But now I know what you meant. We’re connected and I’m not going to leave you behind. Nor this stupid mage.”** **  
** **

Again, Mokona rushes to him, embracing his neck with her wings. “Thank you, Kuro-rin! Mokona’s so happy, so happy...”** **  
** **

He pats the space between her wings, careful not to get her too wet. “You can hug me some more later. For now, I need to bring our idiot pirate back.”** **  
** **

Kurogane makes no sound as he dives under the ship. This is proven a waste of effort when Fluorite appears on deck, a stack of arrows and loud footsteps following closely behind. Maggots crawl through the first one’s half-rotten mouth as it voicelessly shouts after the pirate and the others don’t look much different.** **  
** **

Kurogane lives in the sea; he’s seen death many times. That doesn’t make it any prettier to look at. “What are you doing there, idiot?” he shouts up.** **  
** **

“Kurogane?” Fluorite stops in his tracks, gaping at him, his eye too dim a blue. Too normal. ** **  
** **

“Watch out, don’t stop and stare!” Nodding, Fluorite moves to evade an axe in the nick of time. In his hand, he holds something shaped just like a pearl, if not for its presence. “What happened with your magic?”** **  
** **

“Seems I can’t use it here.” Fluorite shrugs, avoiding strikes from near every direction, as easily as if playing a simple child’s game. Watching, Kurogane’s heart’s stuck in his throat and for the first time, he wished he was a long distance fighter. The mage is a stressful to like.** **  
** **

“Jump here, then!”** **  
** **

“So Kuro-rin can catch me in his rough, wet arms?” This time, a sword actually manages to brush his shoulder and Fluorite winces.. ** **  
** **

“Quit joking around and jump! Or do you have any other genius escape plan, without magic?”** **  
** **

For a second, the pirate meets his eyes painfully. “You didn’t have to come,” he says softly. “You don’t have any more obligation to me.”** **  
** **

Kurogane snorts, angry and helpless with it. “You think I’m here out of obligation?”** **  
** **

“I guess not,” Fai admits with a hesitant smile. “But it would be better for Kuro-rin if I just stayed here. Did you know, that king of theirs cursed all of his people to be undead for the sake of his own desires? I’m the same. If I have the choice, I won’t be able to help myself if it comes to it.”** **  
** **

Kurogane closes his eyes, slowly, for the first time facing the possibility of Fluorite deciding to stay on purpose, no matter what he does. ** **  
** **

“Didn’t I tell you? It’s still your choice. Just like it was that king’s to do what he did, even if anything else feels impossible.” Kurogane crosses his arms. “So decide, if you want to give up without even trying to do otherwise or finishing your goal.”** **  
** **

Fluorite hops on the railing and halts there, the dead crews weapons all pointed at him. “You’re impossible to argue with, Kuro-pii.” With that, he lets himself fall.** **  
** **

Kurogane gains speed as soon as he catches him, pressing the pirate close to his chest, like he’ll disappear again otherwise. “You’re going to be the death of me,” he tells him as they flee.** **  
** **

“Funny,” says Fluorite, breathless. “I was just thinking the same.”** **  
** **

Kurogane snorts, but any further talk is halted when Fluorite stills in his arms. A scream, “Watch out!” And then the world explodes. ** **  
** **

Fucking prehistorical canons, Kurogane thinks, and Where’s Fai? Beside him, a pearl and a wish shatter. A pain he’s never felt before, screaming. ** **  
** **

And then he thinks nothing at all.

** **

*

Tomoyo isn’t one to show her sadness, for all she nags him. So when she shows up at the guards’ quarters, the long ray-like wings of fins flapping agitatedly and hair a mess, he’s just about prepared to swim around the world to stop it.** **  
** **

She tells him of a human princess who shares her dreams. She’s mentioned her before, in her rants about fashion. Kurogane’s gotten expert at blending most of those out, if he’s honest. It’s the first he sees Tomoyo that scared.** **  
** **

She tells him, choked up, that she loves that princess and that there’s a future where she dies.** **  
** **

For the sake of their sakes, Kurogane finds The Witch in that place that belongs nowhere and everywhere. Dark caves he braves, harsh waters and treacherous falling stalactites, until he delivers her payment.** **  
** **

*

** **

His body heavy, he drifts.** **  
** **

“Please, Mokona. If there’s anyone you can call-”** **  
** **

Not quite hearing, not quite understanding, yet aware. He twitches and jerks in pain, under once again.

** **

“What can you give me in return?” A familiar voice. Irritating witch.** **  
** **

“All the magic items we’ve collected.”** **  
** **

“That’s good.” Always sounding like she knows something you don’t. “But it won’t be enough.”** **  
** **

“Then-”** **  
** **

Soft hair, brushing his cheek. A hand. He wants to reach out, hold onto it.** **  
** **

“Can you hear me? No? You were hurt pretty badly.” The voice shakes, just a little. “I really am sorry, Kurogane, for everything.” A stroke on his cheek. Kurogane searches for his voice, for his strength, to do anything at all to show he’s there, listening.** **  
** **

“It’s cowardly to do it when you’re like this, but you must already know that about me. I’ll tell you a story. It’s not a happy one.”** **  
** **

“Hey, Kurogane,” the voice continues, “I really would choose you if I could.” ** **  
** **

Slowly but surely, he regains feeling in his body. ** **  
** **

“If I could, I’d say, ‘Nice to meet you, my name is “---”. But guess you were wrong about me. It’s impossible for me after all.”** **  
** **

His eyelids flutter in protest. The voice is heartbreaking now. All he needs to do to stop this is wake up. Wake up.** **  
** **

“I’m sorry and goodbye, Kurogane. Please forget about me.”** **  
** **

A touch of lips to his forehead and the voice disappears. Exhausted, Kurogane slumps once again and doesn’t wake up.

** **

*

It’s then that his fingertip turns a gleaming gold; but he’s not awake to see it. 

The monster has broken free.** **  
** **

*** **  
** **

“Time to wake up, freeloader. If you stay any longer, you’ll need to pay for it.”** **  
** **

Feeling like he’s been used as a squeeze toy by a giant squid, Kurogane opens an eye and grumbles. The witch looks as smug and otherworldly as usual; except significantly more human and significantly less mer, legs replacing the Octopus legs he’s seen her with last time. Whatever, might as well happen at this point. Human or mer, she’s the next to the last person he wants to see waking up.** **  
** **

“You got a lot ahead of you. After all, someone paid for you to be back to full health.”** **  
** **

With that, his memories return. Outou, the ghost ship, that voice in the dark-** **  
** **

[I’d like to say, “Nice to meet you, my name is Yuui”.]** **  
** **

He almost mutters it out loud. Yuui. He’s told Kurogane his true name. And he left. What the hell is that idiot planning on doing? Foreboding fills him, like a cold hand on his back, his hair standing on end. He could puke with it.** **  
** **

“What did he pay to heal me?”** **  
** **

“Those magic items, and the power of his eye.” Kurogane’s fists tighten. That could be worse, but still, for Fluorite, for Yuui to be without magic...** **  
** **

Then, another realisation hits and punches out his heart with it. The third option. His finger, gold. He rises so fast his head spins. How much time has he lost?** **  
** **

[And the third… That memory got a little lost, but for that, he’d have to cut out someone’s heart. Isn’t that awful? It’s good Fai promised me to only seek the first while Mokona is with him!]** **  
** **

“Where’s Mokona?” he demands, stumbling to that floating state the mer got in this place.** **  
** **

“Asleep,” Yuuko replied, regarding him distantly, yet not harshly. “It’s long since been time for her.”** **  
** **

“Is that what she wanted?” Kurogane asks, remembering her sadness, despite his hurry.** **  
** **

“It’s not something she could help. It’s not something you can either, not right now. You have others who need you more urgently. Don’t you?”** **  
** **

Kurogane agrees begrudgingly. “Where did Y- Fluorite go?”** **  
** **

“I don’t know,” said Yuuko, annoyingly graceful and even more annoyingly apathetic. “I don’t go about asking every guest about their comings and goings.”** **  
** **

“Shit,” Kurogane swears. “I need to get to him before he does something stupid. I need to get back to Tomoyo too. I promised to help her”** **  
** **

“Isn’t that a predicatement,” Yuuko says, impassive.** **  
** **

Kurogane glares at her. “Do you have anything actually helpful to comment?”** **  
** **

“Why, are you asking for help from me, Mr. Witches are only trouble?” Kurogane twitches when the words of his last visit are thrown back at him. “But I’m in a good mood today, so I’ll add that to your bill. Right now, you won’t make it to either of these things. Except if you make a deal. But for that, you only have enough to get you to one. The other, you’ll have to find on your own. The decision is yours.”** **  
** **

Again, Kurogane curses under Yuuko’s amused gaze and he paces. But he doesn’t have the time to linger on this and they both know it.** **  
** **

“Alright,” he says. “What do I have to pay for you to get me to Tomoyo?” 

** **

*** **  
** **

“You’re okay with never actually meeting her?” Kurogane asks her once, after the trade’s been made.** **  
** **

“Yes,” says Tomoyo, her smile bright as tears. “I’d like to, of course, but I like what we have. So it’s okay if we never meet at all.”** **  
** **

“Then why don’t you? You’re not that ill-suited to the surface.” 

More so than Kurogane - Tomoyo thrives at this sea level while he can comfortable change up to this depth, but she’ll live. If she’s as love-stricken as she sounds, it’ll be worth it.** **  
** **

“The truth is,” Tomoyo laughs, even as her face grows red and patchy in her sadness, “I don’t know if I could bear it if I actually met her. I love her, but she’s already found her prince.”** **  
** **

Kurogane half-hugs, half-claps her back.. “So what?” he says. “You won’t know until you try. Besides, it’s not like she’s married him yet, has she?”** **  
** **

“You’re awful, Kurogane,” she says, but sounds less hopeless already. ”But you’re not wrong.”** **  
** **

Turns out, her princess does love her prince. But as it happens, she loves Tomoyo as well. If she’s happy with that, so is Kurogane. Each year, the one day she’s free to leave her post, out of the whole world, it’s to them she goes, every time.** **  
** **

*** **  
** **

The city is ravaged, corals and reefs torn apart needlessly. It makes Kurogane’s blood boil, this destruction of the place he’s sworn to protect. ** **  
** **

Tomoyo’s right above the seal, fighting back the darkness with spell after spell. How long has she been at it? Kurogane’s sense of time has been through the wrangler after everything. He knows her enough to tell she’s close to dropping and immediately feels guilt for taking so long. But he can no longer bring himself to regret coming along on Yuui’s journey.** **  
** **

Beside her, Sohma fights, her technique flawless as always, but more sluggish than usual. They’re both tired. ** **  
** **

With a shout, Kurogane joins the fray. They can’t let the monster rampage, for now. But they can’t fight forever either, so eventually, they’ll need to get it back into the seal somehow.

** **

*

His father’s arm inside the monster’s maw. His mother’s sharp inhale, “Don’t look!”

She’d hugged him immobile, keeping him from rushing out at once, never ceasing to cast her spells. 

Blood in the water. Bodies, everywhere. And as the monster disappears, his mother dropping; magic leaving her burnt out from the inside. There’s a price to power she tells him his father tells him once upon a time.** **  
** **

Kurogane loses himself. He almost never finds himself again.** **  
** **

*

** **

It’s different, but similar enough for his fighting to get an edge. The break out is as intense as back then. Blood is in the air; guards and innocents who got unlucky, injured and killed. ** **  
** **

But now he’s had a taste of a life where he doesn’t have to hold back all the time and it shows.** **  
** **

He’s sworn himself to Tomoyo once, when she was all he had and because if he did, he could keep from losing control ever again.** **  
** **

Now he’s served her and known her, and he’s been without her and learned himself. His style gets wilder, quicker to wound and kill, but he never once loses control.** **  
** **

Their greetings and his apology over and the lack of blame weighing heavy around them, he tells Tomoyo,“Go rest, so you can seal it at full power. Otherwise it’ll run us into the ground.” ** **  
** **

He nods at Sohma. “You still up to having my back?” She nods, determined.** **  
** **

And so they fight at the bottom of the sea; how long, he cannot tell, holding their ground against an impossible opponent. Kurogane realises the demons in Outou must be based on it, except even Oruha didn’t match it in bloodthirst.** **  
** **

Until Tomoyo swims in again; an angel of a vision. Her arms shaking, she finishes incantation after incantation, as Sohma and he, by now matched in exhaustion, drive it back physically, step by step. Until its seals bind it again and it disappears - hopefully for a long time.** **  
** **

*

“Tomoyo. I'm sorry, I won't stay after all,” Kurogane says when they stand on the empty battlefield, wounded and dead already being taken care of.** **  
** **

“That’s alright,” she says, smiling gently. “I can get by on my own, you know. Besides, I have Sohma and everyone else. So you don’t need to worry.”** **  
** **

Kurogane’s gills flare the tiniest bit. In some way, he always will. But Tomoyo is strong and he’s always known it.** **  
** **

“To be honest,” she continues, “I used to worry, if you mightn’t been happier had I let you stay lost, even though you would’ve gotten killed for it.” Again, she smiles, with a painful edge this time. “I’m glad that’s not the case. After you came with us, everyone was glad you didn’t lash out anymore, but I know you never let yourself be truly happy either.”** **  
** **

“I’ve changed,” Kurogane admits. “But whatever I would’ve done, it’s my decision. You didn’t do anything wrong.”** **  
** **

Tomoyo leans against him. “Either way, I wouldn’t have regretted saving you then. But it’s relieving to hear this from you.” Kurogane bumps her elbow comfortingly. She glances up at him, her expression still steady. They’ve both grown up. “Do you think you’re going to come back?”** **  
** **

“Right now, I don’t even know where to go,” he says, letting his frustration shine through. “But I hope so.”** **  
** **

Tomoyo beams with the anticipation of future teasing material. “You’ll have to tell me about that human of yours some time, no getting out of it!”** **  
** **

“Haven’t you seen all of it yourself already?”** **  
** **

“You know my dream-seeing gets wonky when you’re involved. Though not anymore,” she assesses, squinting at him.** **  
** **

Kurogane shrugs. “Had a run in with the witch.”** **  
** **

Tomoyo nods thoughtfully. “So you traded it away. Do you two get along better now, at least?”

Kurogane outright snorts at that. ** **  
** **

“She’s kinder than you’d think, you know. She too is bound by rules she must obey. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s given you some clue.”** **  
** **

*

Such goes Fai’s story:

[There was a pair of twins, once upon a time. In between them, they held the magical power of a god. One to heal, one to destroy. Their powers were two halves of a whole and so were their souls, and they were fine with that. They always had the other to balance them, after all. It was foretold the land, having suffered much, would prosper under them once again. But then, without rhyme or reason, one twin died and destruction was wrought instead. The other fled, his halved soul forever wanting what it lacked. He couldn’t help himself. I still can’t - not while I’m alive.]** **  
** **

*** **  
** **

And so Kurogane searches, and so Kurogane thinks. What does he know? Mokona sleeps. He could seek another deal with Yuuko, but it’d take too long. He doesn’t even know where Fluorite’s gonna go - if he’ll seek out that person whose heart he needs or try and get himself killed on the way again.** **  
** **

To narrow it down, first he must figure out that third target. If Tomoyo’s right and Yuuko’s involved somehow, it must be someone they both know of. As a mer, Tomoyo is out. Or is it that she’s a seer? For a chilling moment, Kurogane considers the white bird. But no; even Mokona wouldn’t forget that, he’s sure.** **  
** **

So that leaves…** **  
** **

A different deal. Of course. Someone else who’s involved, someone they both know. Kurogane starts with full speed towards princess Sakura. Guess there’s some good to guarding Tomoyo from a distance on her first visit to them.** **  
** **

It’s better than swimming aimlessly, at least.

*

She has the best of luck, that princess, Tomoyo tells him. But one day, it would be gone. This is what she trades for: a necklace, to warn her should an enemy approach. 

*

[So I sought The Witch, who called me by my brother’s name. She couldn’t grant my wish, but she let me give my right eye to keep him his body unchanging and his soul with me. She warned it’d just bring me misfortune. Guess she was right. While I was gone, our king went mad without Fai to heal him. I returned to a land of corpses. With his last breath, the king sealed me there for years and years, until-]

*

Kurogane is fast; he can keep up with ships under Yuui’s magic, so it’s quickly that he arrives in her kingdom. Only to discover he’s confined to the sea. 

He sees Yuui nowhere, nor the people from that memory. Has he even arrived yet? Has Kurogane gotten it right? And is he heading here at all? Kurogane hides badly from the fishermen and port folk, searching for familiar faces, for hints of magic. Why do they all have to gather here?

Until a storm is forming, visible even through the whales of ships, right along the coast. He doesn’t even have to try to sense it, chock-full with magic as it is. It must be them; it must be the place. If only he can make it in time. 

Faster, Kurogane pushes himself, faster! Before this storm does something to them. Before Yuui does something immensely stupid. He sees them, three people standing together, Yuui’s face turned heavenwards and one of the kids protectively in front of the other. It _ is _some kind of spell or a curse, like he’d thought, and it’s going to take them away.

Propelling himself out of the water, uncaring if he ends up stranded, Kurogane jumps. Yuui turns to him at the last second and Kurogane makes it, just in time for the storm to take him along.

*

The deal never was for this at all in the end; after all, an enemy is necessary for the necklace to activate. And Sakura never considered Fai as such.

*

[I was saved. King Ashura took me to his lands, gave me a home and supported me in my goal. The only catch; that I’d keep his people safe from harm. I didn’t mind it; the ability to protect is the best about holding the power to destroy. That, you probably understand .]

[If it was me instead of Fai- None of this would’ve needed to happen. But it did. I couldn’t heal our father, or Ashura, or you.]

*

It’s an island they land on, unknown yet familiar. It’s the direction that ghost ship had sailed to, Kurogane realises. Ashura… The king from Yuui’s story shares a name with that god and both make their tragedies. If they’re connected somehow, it doesn’t have anything to do with him right now.

He manages to shift so his hands cushion the fall, but it’s far from pleasant still. All bruises and gashes from fighting that monster immediately complain. The kids manage better than he does, ending up in a crouch. Yuui… Yuui of the wind-like evasion and grace is in a heap on the ground. 

Cursing his inability to just swim over, Kurogane robs over on his stomach. Who cares about dignity in a situation like this, he has to get to him. He considers rolling, but the fin on his back wouldn’t withstand that. “Fluorite! What’s wrong with you?” He calls.

Groaning, Yuui manages to raise his head, supporting himself with his hands. “You shouldn’t have followed me here,” he says. “ None of you.”

Kurogane glances at the kids. The princess regards them sympathetically - he recognises Mokona’s grief in her. So she knows too, about the people who were them and weren’t. The kid, on the other hand, watches them suspiciously, carefully between them and his princess. Kurogane feels a pang of pride that isn’t his own.

Yuui smiles crookedly, so much affection behind his now golden eye it makes Kurogane heat up. “But I guess I should be used to it by now. Still, you need to leave while you can.”

“What’s going on?” Kurogane asks flatly.

“A curse,” says Yuui with his painful smile, somehow feeling more present than ever. “For giving up. I won’t go through with it after all. No matter what, I won’t kill for the sake of my wish; not you, nor anyone else. That’s the choice I make.” He locks eyes with Kurogane at that, before closing them. “So the price is mine to bear.”

“No.” It’s Sakura who says it firmly, shaking her head. “You’re facing something terrible here, aren’t you? You don’t have to bear it alone. Maybe you’re not the Fai from my memories, but we- we’ll still help however much we can. Right, Syaoran?”

The kid nods, determined. “I don’t have the princesses’ memories from this other life, but still. Sakura trusts you and I want to help.” 

“You don’t have to,” says Yuui in rising desperation. “I’m ready to face down what sleeps here myself. Please.”

“But are you prepared to come back alive?” Kurogane asks at last, piercing eyes on him. “Even now that you’re without magic?”

Yuui pauses too long. “I’m staying,” Kurogane tells him in a voice brooking no argument. “And it doesn’t seem like these two are going anywhere either. Sounds like you could use this, by the way.” He releases the transportation spell he’s asked for, it seems, lifetimes ago, and a golden staff appears in his hands.

“You brought it back?” Yuui’s lips twist, touched. “Thank you.”

Suddenly, a woman in white, long-haired and blond as Yuui; appearing beside the trees and reaching for them with grasping fingers, mouth open in a soundless scream. 

“Chii,” Yuui whispers, wretched and resigned, heartbreak in his eye. He closes it. “Now it’s too late for you to leave, anyway.”

Sakura gasps in shock, her question unfinished. “Was that-”

“Yes,” Yuui continues, the resignation not quite bleeding away, “it’s my soul.”

“What,” asks Kurogane, doom gnawing at his insides.

“That’s the curse. I left it here, to watch over this place and freeze it in time, until I brought that person back to life. Now that I’ve strayed from that goal… Time flows again and the monster will wake.” 

“But your soul!” The princess objects. “What’s going to happen to it? And how did you live without it?”

“I separated it and gave it a form. Because of the deal ensuring a time limit, I could live as if I had it still; but it’s because of this that no one can sense me, unless they see me. Since in reality, there’s nothing there.”

“You idiot,” says Kurogane with the force of his bad feeling. “And you didn’t answer her: What’ll happen to it now?”

“You might not have to find out,” says a voice ahead of them. A serene-looking man belied by an aura of death of a strength Kurogane has rarely felt. He wishes with newfound intensity, that they were in water, more aware than ever of how little he could move here. He bares his teeth.

“King Ashura,” breathes out Yuui. 

“Hello again, Yuui,” greets Ashura. “It’s good to see you again.”

Kurogane physically bristles as Yuui stands stockstill. Beyond their power, there's intimacy to names. And this murderer of a man had just used Yuui’s like that in front of people who were strangers to him. How dare he. 

(If they survive this, Kurogane will tell him his.)

“I don’t suppose you’ve changed at all during your sleep?” asks Yuui.

Ashura smiles. “I’m afraid not. But you have, haven’t you? Unfortunately, it’ll be the death of you. Without your magic, you can’t kill me, even if you choose to. That’s a shame.”

“I won’t let you,” says Sakura. Kurogane regards her, surprised. There’s a newfound power in her he hadn’t seen in Outou’s memory. Then again, this princess isn’t the same, even if she somehow remembers.

“Nor will I let myself be killed just like that,” adds Yuui.

“Your friend is powerful,” Ashura notes. Kurogane wants to smash his smile off his face. “A cub of a lion. Even still, your magic is growing into itself. That'll make for an interesting-” 

The mad king falls to his knees, touching the blood flowing from his chest in absurdly mild surprise. He opens his mouth, as if for some last words, but only chokes out blood. In that mild surprise still, he falls to the ground and no longer gets up.

“Ashura!” cries Yuui, golden eye burning. The princesses’ hands are clasped in front of her mouth and Syaoran’s frozen in his fighting stance.

Behind Ashura’s body arises a boy about the kids’ age; the mirror of a younger Yuui, eyes blue and a bloody lung in his hand. He studies it unaffectedly and then bites into it. Blood squirts everywhere; down his chin, his cheeks, regal clothes.

“Fai?” whispers Yuui, transfixed, confirming Kurogane’s suspicions, but holding no explanations. And then, tone hardening, “You’re not him, are you.”

The Fai lookalike finishes chewing and speaks. “No. He is a remnant that should no longer exist and so am I. Except, unlike him, I’m no longer part of this world.” He smiles, smug, his lips bloody. “But now, I’ve found a way into it. I have you to thank for that.”

“It’s you,” says Yuui, shaken, but now aiming his staff threateningly. “That person who helped me, at this cost.”

“Yes,” says whoever the fuck it actually is. “Had you taken any one of the options, it wouldn’t have come to this, but now… I’ve come to collect.” He raises his head to the sky. “Either way, I have my revenge against the witch and that man, even in this world without me.”

“You’re the one who held all the threads,” says Sakura, something so dark in her tone that all their heads turn to her, “in the time that’s been erased. Fei Wang Reed.”

“And you’re the one who destroyed that me,” counters Reed, “by shattering me against time itself, just as I achieved my goal.”

Sakura shakes and they inch towards her protectively, Syaoran’s hand resting on her arm. “It wasn’t this me, but… I don’t regret it. You killed my friends.”

[A vision that didn’t come; a curse activated just as planned, with only corpses left. And a princess who’s lost everything. This happened; this never existed at all.]

“No matter. Now I can get back at you as well. But first.. I will take what is owed.”

[Two curses for information: How to bind a soul and where to find a wish. In return, upon failure: time that will flow and…]

Silvery blue smoke bursts out from under Yuui’s eye patch. He claws at it, trying to keep it in, rearing up in pain.

“Yuui!” Kurogane yells, glancing hostilely at Reed as it gathers into the shape of a marble and escapes, leaving the mage panting, his shape suddenly worsening that much more.

[his right eye.]

Reed catches the shining marble, eyes it hungrily, and devours it.

“No!” shouts Yuui and lunges at him, collapsing after a few steps. His hands tremble around the staff; it almost falls. The princess casts a spell that gets deflected by a barrier, Reed’s presence suddenly fuller, more powerful.

“Your brother’s soul, was it? I knew you kept it there and in my incorporeality, I saw that you asked that king to erase the memory of it. So scared of going mad and causing calamities yourself, of consuming his soul in your desperation. Now you won’t need to worry about that.”

“You’re trying to become a part of this world again,” says Sakura. “A body, magic and a soul; that’s why you need it, don’t you? But I won’t let you cause trouble again.”

And they rip into each other, a battle where even Syaoran, faithfully defending Sakura and being protected as he attacks in turn, can barely pitch in; spell after spell being fired, the blood on the face belonging to Fai completely dried now.

Yuui, in the meantime, is dying. His body withers visibly by the second, without any soul keeping him alive. Kurogane makes it to him, holding onto him as he stays in intense awareness of Sakura’s fight. “Don’t you dare die,” he says into Yuui’s hair, “or I’ll kill you myself.”

And he tells him then, his true name: Youou.

“Youou,” Yuui whispers back reverently and smiles. “Nice to meet you again, Youou, I’m Yuui. And I know something that can help… If I can keep myself together.” 

[This wish will only bring you misfortune. So I’ll throw in a bonus-]

Four hands hold up the staff and, eyes closed in concentration, Yuui mutters, “I take it back; Fai, I set you free.”

[-and give you a way out, should you decide to. All you need is some power to activate it.]

Nothing happens. “There should still be power within,” Yuui mumbles, “I should still be able to use it.” He repeats, “I take my wish back. Fai, I set you free, I set you free.”

Youou’s hands squeeze his encouragingly, holding the staff up high for the two of them. He hates it, being useless and stranded within a fight. But this, at least, he can do.

[But that shouldn’t be a problem for you anyway.]

It works. They make it work. “No!” cries Reed as the silver-blue fog escapes him. As Fai’s body collapses, it forms itself into it. Then, something younger, hair longer, figure gaunt and drawn. Between the two, it flickers. An appearance at Yuui’s side- a whisper- a gleaming blue breath that gives Yuui just a little more time-

And Fai is gone from this world for good.

*

Good things come in threes, they say, and thrice Kurogane arrives at the witches’ lair. 

With the kid helping him to water and the princess enchanting Yuui so the water won’t kill him instead, Kurogane sets off. Exhaustion tears at him from the fights and revelations. It feels like ages since he even dozed. But he swims on, not daring to lose sight of the way or of Yuui. Rest is for later.

That place is different. It’s fully land and Kurogane collapses with the strain of parting from water even further, Yuui in his arms. The colors feel fuller, less muted, even as it all looks the same. 

“You two again,” says the witch. So at least Yuuko is still there. “But different versions. I won’t ask, don't worry.”

“What are you talking about.”

Yuuko casts him a sideways look. Always with that air of aloof amusement. He glares at her. “It’s a space between dimensions, between time. Sometimes, things get mixed up.” She shrugs. “What do you need, anyways?”

“To fix up this idiot’s soul,” says Kurogane, laying out the mage as he gets back into a crouch. 

“He no longer has one, it seems. What a peculiar case.”

“Can you fix it?”

“For a price. But even then... This one only ever had half a soul, so that's all I can return to him. He'll always be wanting for it.”

Kurogane nods. “That's fine with me. I didn't expect otherwise with the payment.”

“Oh? Do you already have an offer prepared, then?”

“Work for you. I heard that can count as payment. But that’s only in case your price is terrible or if you offer no other.”

“My prices are perfect,” Yuuko informs him, amused rather than insulted. “Otherwise, this business would've collapsed long ago.

But I do have a different offer for the two of you.”

[Sacrifice your tail, your life under the sea.]

[Trade his humanity, his legs.]

or…. [Give all your memories of him.]

“It’s up to you. Choose.”

….

“I choose-- To wake Yuui. It’s our lives, we’ll decide together.”

“Permission granted,” says Yuuko. “Choose well.”

**Author's Note:**

> It's my first time participating in the KuroFai Olympics (and also writing this long a story) and I hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> You can vote for and check out the other entries here: https://kurofai.dreamwidth.org/


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